In the West.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 82, 10 July 1916, Page 5

In the West.

THE CAPTURED CANNON. OLD .-RIENDS DISCOVERED. Cress Association—Copyright, Austra-' lig,n and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received 0.00 a-'.m.) Paris, July 9. The guns captured at the Somme acludo Russian cannon taken by the, nemy on the Eastern front in 1915 ind French guns from Maubeugc.

JHE WOUNDED AT THE 80MME.

A PEN PICTURE. Press Association— Copyright, Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received 8.50 a.m.) London, July 9. Captain A. J. Dawson, the novelist, iit an article dealing with the .voundod at. the Somme, | says: "Only those commanding the units can imagine the night before that memorable Saturday; can ; imagine the tense crowded pre-occupatfrm of that night >f nights; the crowding in of, men ilong the muddy burrows in that vast van-en; the'endless carrying of ammunition, bombs, tools, .and the themmnd and one activities midst a wild nferno of bursting shells, of soaring niomy lights, and of the deadly ■'tick-tack" of the : ,fcochoM machine;yns. What of the wounded who vero dazed, bleeding, fainting, and nortally athirst!"

OFFICIAL NEWS.

EXCELLENT ALLIED PROGRESS.

The High Commissioner reports:— London, July 8 ;2.30 p.m.)

Goneral Haig reports heavy rain ;esterday afternoon ai}d evening impeded operations between the Ancre md tho Sonmie. Wo spent the night chiefly in .improving the positions gamed vesterday. Fighting in the. neigh-: bourhood of Commecourt, we bombarded! the enemy's with field f At Neuville, St. )jfes and northwards of Kobincourt the enemy are iciive., They., exploded. a mine, northeastwards of, the former without damage- a\\ . ' ' ■ '.'' II • ! , i The .onemy exploded mines tinder sxisting cvaters at Hohenzollcrn redoubt without advantage. North-east of Hulluch a mine of ours destroyed a hostile gallery. , fc , r Despite unfavorable weather our aeroplanes did valuable service in actively co-opwating~with the artillery.in I'mjwrtant reconnaissance work. They bbmbod a hostile aerodrome at Douai, Vorjipletely woekin» ithe hangar , and, udihg other dfftnage; During msm 'few days we captured twenty guns, ftftV-one machine'gim*; d'AMM ttf Lutomatie rifles, Jm* jmoirtßffl hfiLnwcrfer, and other war material, i e • London, July 7 (J-I..P&TV»>•)/ tJro'dh the British front,, WBtstf& Mi Stubborn resistance of the enemy, our infjmtry, well assisted bjM , artillery, 'pushed the advance with the utmost gallantry throughout the fighting in. the; morning, gaining several important; successes. South of Thiepval, after a fierce preliminary bombardment, we carried by assault a further portion of an immensely strong work called the "Leipzig" redoubt. This redoubt is situated in a salient of .the German line, and the onemy have exercised all their ingenuity over its fortification during the last twenty months.

• Further south, one brigade attacking from the West, forced its way across 500 yards of the German front4hh}. trendies into the enemy' defences of Ovillers. Fierce fighting is now in progress for the possession of the village. Following up our success last night east of La Boiselle, wo advanced cur line over a maze of German trenches on a front of nearly 2000 yards and a depth of 500 yards. . ;'^ North of Fricourt, linking up with this attack, we drove the enemy lro# the woods and three lines of trench js About 10 a.m. the Prussian Guards were thrown into the fight east of Contalmaison in a desperate effort to force us back, but the attack was crushed by our artillery, and the enemy subsequently fell back northwards, leaving 700 prisoners of various regiments. About noon, our infantry carried the village of Contalmaison by storm, but were since forced out again by a strong counter-attack. The enemy's casualties to-day were very severe.

Large numbers of troops retiring over the open were caught by our artillery fire.

An officer who was taken prisoner states that his battalion came under strong machine-gun fire from one of our aeroplanes at an altitude of :500ft. when machining to the battlefield, and shortly afterwards the same battalionwas shelled, heavily by long-range guns. Heavy rains have been falling throughout the day, and the sodden ground and flooded state of the trenches added to the difficulties experienced by our troops. AN APPRECIABLE ADVANCE. ' London, July 9. Sir Douglas Haig reports: The fighting to-day was principally on the extreme right flank. We had further important ruccorkok. We stormed the lino of trenches eastward of Bernafray

wood and gained a lodgment in the strongly defended Tronea wood. The enemy's losses were severe. A strong counter-attack in mas-j that was made across the open was broken, and the enemy retired in disorder,

Hand to hand fighting continues among the ruins of Ovillers, where an appreciable advance \\i\s made. Our aeroplanes exploded an ammunition depot and bombed some .billets. BAD WEATHER REPORTED. BRITISH OPERATIONS ON THE ANCRE AND THE SOMME. Press Association—Copyright, Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received 8.50 a.m.) 1 London, July 9. General Haig reports: Very heavy rain in the afternoon and evening impeded the operations on the Ancro and the Somme. The night was chiefly spent improving the forward positions gained in Friday's fighting. We bombarded the enemy's trenches with our field guns and trench mortars at Gominecourt. Despite the unfavorable weather, our aeroplanes did valuable service. They bombed the aerodrome at Douni, completely, wrecking 'the hangar.

During the offensive, we have captured twenty guns, fifty-oiio machine juiis, and many searchlights.

FRENCH CAPTURE VILLAGES.

London, July 9 (&'4O a.tr..; ,On Saturday night the French official communique reports the.capture of the villages of Haidecourt and Xamelon. , • .. . In conjunction with the British Army, we took Trones Woods and the farm to the south-east. Wo. repulsed wo counter-attacks and took: 280 prisoners. The Morning Post's correspondent sends a glowing report of the British elpfit de corps and the : value of the war booty captured by the British in recent operations; also a report of tieavv German losses, including the demoralising: ofcj \jjpi Prussian Guards.

RE- , High . Lond,o,nv^ubv^;( L2 P f ?- The FfW-h official report states : { Betweeii'the the Oise and the Aisne, a sudden attack on Wednesday night on; one of our trenches completely failed. ' On the right -bank of tho • Meuse, there was a fairly lively struggle during the day in the region of Thiaumont. The Germans launched successively several attacks which were preceded by a bombardment on our Oiie of these, gained fi ihg in our advanced elements, but pir counter-attack, enabled us to rewUbllsli W>'linos. attempts by the rppulscd. If. jam-, matti* g ul l&s to the « nem '"■• '* :THE ANQ^P"F^ NCH L!NE ' [\l\ < 3M|t "Paris, July |J

I Semi-official.— Before the "battle! can resume its victorious courso tho British and French sectors must be brought into line. The successes of tho British yesterday ended the formation of, a sinuous line, and this must be rectified by a subsequent advance, for the action continues to be completely in favor of the British, and is in conformity with the plan of the Anglo-French command. Between Belldy and Estrees the Bavarian 17th Division suffered seriously in six successive assults. The French, machine-gun batteries ploughed through two regiments. A Bavarian company was surrounded in a building at Belloy Berney and surrendered.

Paris, July 9

A communique states:' Notwithstanding persistent rain arid fog, the French this morning assaulted the village of Hardeeourt and the hill northwards, in conjunction with the British, who attacked Troneg wood farm, south-east of thd wood, and the French gained their objectives in thirty-five minuteß.

Two counter-attacks on tlio hill in the afternoon were shattered. There is an intermittent bombardment on the left bank of ; tho Meuse, and violent artillery activity northof Souville and Damloup. THE IMPORTANCE OF PERONNE Loudon; July 8. The military authorities believe that the German line will be broken if the French seize Peronne, behind which tho Germans are unprepared. Peronne, however, is heavily fortified, and also defended by the wide canalised river Lacy, and a marsh half a mile wide. London, July 8. The Daily Chronicle's Paris correspondent states that a Bavarian captain, who was taken prisoner, says that" every thing possible was done to

strengthen the defences. The number of machine-guns was tripled in view of the expected attack on June 28. For three days more the bombardment continued, with increasing violence, and our moral and physical resistance began to diminish. We counted 900 .shells a minute. The Fiencli must have discovered a new explosive as we have had not pre- , iously seen such havoc. ■ MISCELLANEOUS. ■ ; London, July 8. Lord Esher, writing from France, urges the people to throw every ounce into the scale. "The game is going fast and in favor of the Allies, and the ball has now been passed to Us for. the final rush. The supreme moment is at hand, when every man, every shell, gun, and ship should be concentrated." He adds: "The mighty 'German effort is dying away, and there are manifold signs of their disintegration and lowering morale."